


Happier

by themightyloon



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Aliens don't understand humans, F/M, Intimacy without Words, Introspection, M/M, Pining, Tooth Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 09:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16595324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themightyloon/pseuds/themightyloon
Summary: Despite what he wants to believe, Eddie cannot shake the feeling that his heart wants Anne back in his life, or maybe he desires something much more...





	Happier

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song "Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille. Also by emotions after breakups. Bit of comic book influence in the portrayal of characters.

**“She does not know that we are going to win her back,”** his Other hisses gleefully as they watch Anne chatting with Dan. Her expression is far more brighter than when they'd been engaged. Certainly her body language spoke volumes, the comfort, the ease she wore in the doctor's presence.

Eddie shifts his feet, feeling the lump obstructing his throat as he tears his gaze away from the couple. Maybe there was a time when he'd been all too eager for a possible rekindling, but now, the only sensation he felt was sinking. It settled somewhere in the region of his internal organs, stewing like a stormy sea. 

“Nah, she doesn't need us,” he muttered, ignoring any unwarranted attention received by vocalizing out loud. A man talking to himself couldn't be the strangest sight San Francisco had to offer. 

**“You feel lonely without her. We can sense it, Eddie,”** there was a brief constricting within his chest cavity as the symbiote draped themselves around his lungs. It was a sort of internal hug, he surmised, given that his Other was not entirely familiar with human social norms. 

“Shove off will ya?” Eddie groaned, shoving his hands into his pockets as they retreated from the scene they had just witnessed. “We don't need her and besides, she's perfectly happy with Dan.” 

The symbiote remained eerily silent for a moment, though Eddie could feel their lingering suspicion ghosting his consciousness. He refused to acknowledge this however, choosing instead to keep strolling down the sidewalk. 

Memories, mostly nostalgic, filtered through his vision. Ones all containing Anne before this whole disaster. When he'd felt the most complete. Her radiant smile, her melodious voice, her slender frame...damn it, he missed it so much. They could still remain friends, that at least was a positive note. But to repair the damage he'd caused by destroying her trust in him, directly putting her career in jeopardy, was not in the cards. 

He may have finally apologized and owned up to his mistakes but time was fickle with healing wounds. Anne may never fully forgive him and she had that right to do so. Still, the nagging thoughts that questioned his reasoning were ever present, telling him he was lying to himself, that deep down the love for her he tried to quell existed. 

**“Why do you choose to torment yourself with these emotions? Why not just win her back, as we said?”** The voice was almost a whisper in his ear, causing Eddie to jump and glance around in confusion before realization settled in. 

“It’s not that simple, V,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Human relationships are complicated.”  
This answer did little to satisfy the symbiote’s curiosity as it projected displeasure in the form of bringing their shared body to a sudden halt. Eddie felt himself lurch forward, nearly losing his balance had it not been for his Other correcting the problem. 

“What the hell was that for?!” he hissed through gritted teeth, attempting to walk forward. 

**“You are not listening to us!”** his Other protested, locking his in place. Eddie stubbornly fought against this unwarranted control but with no avail. His limbs shuddered violently each time he tried. There was a bubbling sensation at the nape of his as the symbiote slithered into view, an aura of sheer annoyance radiating from it despite the lack of proper facial expression. 

“V are you serious right now?! We're in public, what if someone sees us?!” the human protested, battling the tendrils from his face. 

**“No one will see us! Now cease your pathetic whining and LISTEN!”** his Other growled, its disembodied gaze directly in line with his human one. Eddie could do little to flinch or turn away as it held onto his head. 

“Fine,” Eddie snapped, perhaps a tad too harshly. At this point however, he wasn't overly concerned given their current circumstance. 

**“You think you can obstruct your emotions from us,”** the alien's tone was chiding, as though they were addressing a child. **“It is a skill you clearly lack, considering we can sense every ounce of your dissatisfaction!”**

Eddie groaned as he felt the heat rising within his distraught face. The symbiote disregard this reaction and continued. 

**“There are no secrets between us, Eddie!”** this time the symbiote brought its head a mere inch from his. He felt the hot breath seeping from its elongated fangs. 

For a moment the human was silent, unable to tame the swirling thoughts that held his tongue. Words dissolved before they were formed, leaving him little options for rebuttal. A telltale wave of sadness overcame him but the emotion’s origins were not his own. 

Eddie’s expression faltered, momentarily displaying a mixture of shock, anger and heartbreak. He couldn't deny that for the last several months the emptiness devoid of Anne’s affection for him had grown larger, resulting in a gaping hole over his heart. It ached frequently, throbbing throughout his chest, seeping into his limbs with a residual sting. He'd felt so helpless, so alone, so dependant on another presence that once it disappeared, a part of him was lost. 

“A flame in the wind, not the fire we'd begun…” he whispered, more so to himself as he stared blankly into space. Eddie wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball, to wallow in the “what ifs” and “should haves” despite knowing full well the logical solution would be to move on. He wanted so desperately to move on. To not believe that the sight of Anne with someone else didn’t eat him up inside. They’d be together for three years, on the cusp on marriage, yet she recovered faster than he had. 

Anne hadn’t descended into an all consuming depression, she still possessed a decent apartment located in a cleaner part of the city. She didn’t wind up with a looming debt, even with being unemployed due to his over eager attitude to bringing down Drake. Her life was the complete opposite of his. The grass was greener on her side. His was parched, browning and reduced to a husk of its former self. 

Yet…

The realization hit him, parting the clouds of self doubt and misery. He wasn’t technically alone anymore. He now shared a headspace with an entity from the stars, always present even if his attention wasn’t. Though it didn’t feel quite the same as having another human around. It was beyond that. To have someone who never left your side, to know your innermost thoughts and emotions as though they were their own, who understood every fibre of your being...that was a relationship truly intimate. 

It scared him a little, if he were being honest with himself, despite how much he found himself craving that sensation. To truly be an open book, no secrets, no lies. His soul bared for another to see. 

**“You do not seek Anne’s love, only the concept of what it left behind,”** the symbiote uttered the truth for him. He nodded slowly, closing his eyes as though it would somehow mask the pain. 

“I just...miss...yeah, I guess when we put it that way,” Eddie sighed, shrugging his shoulders, his face scrunching into a brief expression of defeat. “I didn’t want her specifically, I just wanted what it was.” 

**“You are no longer alone,”** they stated a matter of factly. **“You have us.”**

“Yeah but...this is different...it’s not…” he trailed off, unsure of his next words. It never occurred to him that their bond could be anything considered romantic. Was such a thing even possible? 

**“It is the same thing,”** his Other insisted. **“A bond between a host and Klyntar was originally meant to be something considered hostile. Our species only understands the concept of take and consume, never trade anything in return.”**

“So you keep saying,” Eddie mused, running a hand through his tousled hair. 

**“Amongst the Klyntar, we are somewhat of an abomination, a branch to be pruned from the tree. We desired a mutual bond with our host, similar to your human custom of ‘marriage’ so to speak.”**

“Wait, what?” Eddie instinctively backed away, despite knowing full well how futile such an action was. “Are you sayin’...you're in love with me?” His tone wasn't accusing, merely curious, at least the human hoped that was the feeling he conveyed. 

No words were exchanged as the symbiote melted back into his flesh, giving Eddie some semblance of a normal human appearance.

“Hey, hey wait, you gonna answer that or...?” he asked, more confused than before. “V? Hey V, you there?” 

He mentally reached out, frantically searching for his Other's presence but he discovered none. Just a barrier that emitted a sort of...brooding aura. 

“OK, I get it, fine, gonna leave me hanging,” he muttered, shrugging as he regained control of his body. He felt a twinge of mild annoyance at lack of response. “What happened to ‘we’ huh?” 

His words invoked nothing, not even a flicker. Eddie was left to mull over his thoughts until he arrived twenty minutes later at the entrance of his apartment. The walk had been quite dull without the chattering presence of the symbiote talking his ear off. As he unlocked the door, Eddie paused in the doorway, staring into the darkness for a moment before entering. The door shut behind him with a soft click. 

He collapsed onto his moth-eaten couch face first, not bothering to remove any street wear.

“C’mon, V, say something,” he groaned after what felt like forever. “You're going to have to own up at some point.” 

Silence. The symbiote did not remotely seem interested in continuing their earlier discussion. This irked the human even further as he rolled into his back, glaring at the ceiling. 

“SAY SOMETHING DAMN IT!” he demanded, pounding a fist into the cushions. This elicited a wave of disapproval, akin to a mental eye roll. Glistening black tendrils emerged from his shoulder as the symbiote materialized once more. 

**“You are angry,”** they said, their fanged visage morphed into a frown. 

“Hell yeah I'm angry,” Eddie snapped, sitting up against the arm of the couch. “You said there were no secrets between us. Yet the moment you're put on the spot, you run and hide!” 

**“We are confused, humans are not particularly fond of sharing their emotions, are they not?”** the symbiote tilted their head to one side. 

“This is entirely different situation! We were on equal ground but you chose to ignore the opportunity,” Eddie growled, jabbing an accusatory finger towards his Other. The entity's face dissolved into a slimy mass as they began what could only be described as melting. Their tendrils leaked away from Eddie’s body, covering the floor beneath the couch in glistening darkness. 

“Dramatic much?” the human scoffed, folding his arms in disbelief. 

The symbiote’s mass continued to coalesce without a word as they rose upwards like some creature from the deep. It expanded further and further, forming thick sinewy limbs decorated with vibrant veins of white, then a torso followed by a head. An exact replica of their humanoid form stood before Eddie, a single tendril tethering them together. 

“Wow,” he gasped as he tentatively stood up, a chill running down his spine. The hulking form remained motionless as Eddie approached, ghosting his fingers along its smooth ‘flesh.’ He barely had time to register the broad, muscular arms gathering up his smaller form to be relatively eye to eye with his Other. 

It felt so surreal to experience the symbiote’s towering form on the outside rather than from within, being cradled by arms that tore through criminal’s bodies with ease. He reached out to touch the fangs normally meant for biting heads. They were eerily smooth under his fingertips, solid but not quite. 

A low thrum of amusement rippled through the alien's chest, causing Eddie laugh nervously as he felt the vibrations beneath his frame.

“I could get used to this,” he mumbled, gently resting his head on the symbiote’s massive bicep. He casually traced the veins closest to him, lost in thought. 

**“Our species is not accustomed to acts of affection, is this satisfactory?”** a tone of uncertainty laced their words. 

“This is perfect,” Eddie replied, a bright smile replacing the usual scowl he wore. 

He now had a broader understanding of their situation. Mere words could not describe it. It was certainly deeper than anything he tried comparing it to. The tell tale flickers of emotions, images, simple gestures of touch were all they needed. 

Barriers were unnecessary between them as they had become one in the same, two beings merged to form a single powerful entity. In sync, in perfect symbiosis; a mixture of human and alien. 

In the grand scheme of things, whether or not Anne would ever return his advances did not matter. He didn't want her, he wanted the relationship, as his Other had pointed out. Eddie was content to forget about whatever attempts his mind had concocted to win back Anne’s affection. It would certainly make her far happier if they remained friends, even if it stung a little. 

“You were right all along, I was just too damn stupid to notice,” the human sighed. “I let my emotions get the best of me.”

His Other drew him closer until he was surrounded by the pleasant warmth radiating from its embrace. 

**“You are only human, but together we can be so much more, if that is what you desire,”** its voice was far more tender than the typical gruff intimidating bravado it normally conveyed. 

“You sound so chivalrous, I like it,” he chuckled, feeling tears well at the corners of his eyes. Indeed the waterworks broke free as a broken sob escaped his lips, wracking his smaller frame. He'd been holding so much back as he began openly weeping into the Other's chest. 

Fear, loneliness, anger, confusion...love...the wave of emotions flooded their bond. It became a wordless back and forth exchange between the pair. Only Eddie’s sobs pierced the silence of their darkened apartment. 

**“No one will ever come between us, Eddie. Never again,”**

“Never huh?” the human hastily wiped his tear stained face with a sleeve. “Promise?”

**“Promise.”**


End file.
